The Shape of Water movie reviews

Sunday, February 11, 2018 10:57:30 AM | (Age Not Specified)

A love story that actually makes perfect sense. Never sloppy, though a little predictable, but the music line-up, the vintage air, and the screenplay is monumental. It draws us all back to how perplexed and entangled love is, yet it is still our refuge. I didn't like the feel of relief in the end, but it was still heart-warming and the best romantic stories in decades.

Saturday, February 10, 2018 4:44:56 PM | (Age Not Specified)

Saturday, February 10, 2018 3:46:56 PM | (Age Not Specified)

Del Torro got to produce it, write it, direct it etc. Must be nice to have the power to make a movie exactly as you feel like making it. So many movies are made by committee these days and go off track. Has a 1930's vibe set in 1960. Old school background music which I loved and sort of an Indiana Jones flavor thrown in. Excellent aqua man type character. Well acted and high production values. A little over the top at times. Also could have used a bit more bite and drama but worth seeing.

Saturday, February 10, 2018 3:20:16 PM | (Age Not Specified)

There is much that is right about The Shape of Water. The cinematography is magical. The opening scene alone is worth the price of admission for its dreamy, surrealistic rendering. The entire film has a bluish tint that is in keeping with the movie’s aqua theme.
The setting is the 1950s, replete with 1957 Chevrolets, popular music, and references to Bonanza and Gilligan’s Island.—fun for those of us old enough to remember the 50s.
The love story is strangely endearing—not nearly as slimy and horrific as I imagined.
It’s a solid film. I give it four out of five stars; and I would not squabble with others who would give is a solid five-star rating.
What disturbs me about the movie is what has troubled me about our culture as a whole: the ubiquity of fantasy. All the top-billed films these days are fantasy. So are the bestselling books. Even the political news is referred to as fake or fanciful. The problem with so much fantasy is that we risk accepting the fantastic as a substitute for reality. It is not. When a teen goes on a shooting spree, it is not because he is a fantasy superhero; it is because he is delusional—and that is the reality of it.
Because The Shape of Water is fantasy—very much like all the hugely popular Marvel movies of the day—the characters tend to perfectly good or perfectly evil. Consequently, we all know how the movie will end before it gets started.
There are also a few nuances that less sophisticated audiences may miss but are important to point out. The film is really about the value of all beings: the socially awkward, the mute, even the monstrous. That is a nod to all the maladroit people in the world (especially teens) who don’t quite fit in and, yet, would like to be valued in a society where beauty, talent, and power trump eccentricity. The problem is that some may internalize the message as being something nefarious—like an endorsement to be racist, anti-social, xenophobic, misanthropic, or, worse, sociopathic.

Friday, February 9, 2018 1:13:33 PM | (Age Not Specified)

Friday, February 9, 2018 10:50:13 AM | (Age Not Specified)

This film lives up to its hype. It fits well with the popular theme of what it means to be human, but does this in a unique way as compared to others, like the resurgence of Blade Runner. Not only is this film aesthetically beautiful, the writing is incredible and Sally Hawkins' performance is compelling. A must see.

Friday, February 9, 2018 10:44:43 AM | (Age Not Specified)

Brilliant, smart, visually impeccable, touching, sensible, emotional and amazing. The Shape of Water deserves all the praises and more, once again Guillermo Del Toro create a marvelous narrative so sensible, dark and fantastic that make the audiences feel everything in it, the cast also delivers a impeccable work (Sally Hawkins deliver one of the best performances of the decade). A masterpiece. (5/5)